A/HRC/42/43 return, many older persons have limited access to secure housing because, for example, their house has been destroyed or taken over by others, such as younger family members. 53. Older refugees and internally displaced persons living outside camps often encounter difficulties in their access to housing on the local market because of high costs and their own limited purchasing power (such as older persons who have become heads of the household in displacement). 54. Whether rooted in customs or in statutory law, discriminatory practices often prevent older widows from owning or inheriting property, which is a violation of their right to property. The considerable risk of poverty associated with the loss of livelihood can be exacerbated in emergency situations.18 3. Right to social security 55. In its general comment No. 19 (2007) on the right to social security, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights emphasized the obligations of States to ensure the right to social security when individuals or a group are unable, on grounds reasonably considered to be beyond their control, to realize that right themselves, within the existing social security system with the means at their disposal. It also explicitly referred to the need to provide special attention to ensuring that the social security system can respond in times of emergency, for example during and after natural disasters, armed conflict and crop failure. 56. In situations of forced displacement, older persons often face numerous obstacles in their access to social protection systems, including their pensions. In particular, older refugees often do not have access to national systems because of their refugee status. 57. One key impediment to access to pensions for older displaced persons, including refugees, is lack of documentation. Identity documents may be left behind or lost during flight. In addition, restrictions on freedom of movement may constitute a significant obstacle, especially in situations of encampment policies, besieged areas and lack of security, and in particular for internally displaced persons, who often are not registered. For refugees, mobility difficulties can hinder access to registration in situations where mobile registration or other accessibility options are not available. 58. Difficulties in access to a pension limit the independence and autonomy, and thus increase protection risks, of older persons. Lack of access to social protection systems may result in or further aggravate old age poverty and may also have a negative impact on their coping mechanisms, leading to, for example, reduced food intake. 4. Right to work 59. In emergency situations, including forced displacement, older persons are often excluded from opportunities to work due to discrimination based on both age and status as a refugee or internally displaced person. Moreover, in many countries, refugees do not have the right to work. Another factor is the location of camps and settlements for refugees and internally displaced persons far from economic centres. 60. Older persons are routinely excluded from economic recovery initiatives. Livelihood programmes often have a cut-off age or do not recognize the skills and capacities of older persons who wish to work. Age restrictions may also exclude older persons from participating in job rehabilitation programmes, income-generating activities or food-forwork programmes and from obtaining microcredit. Older persons may also face competition from young people; and if they have been out of the labour market for longer periods, including due to displacement, their skills may be no longer relevant. 61. There are also cases where older persons in an emergency situation may be pushed to work in the informal economy, where they often face exploitation, poor working conditions or other abuses. 18 See Briefing paper for the first working session of the Open Ended Working Group on Ageing, 18–21 April 2011, available from https://social.un.org/ageing-working-group/firstsession.shtml. 11